LEGISLATIVE ANALYST REPORT

TO: HONORABLE MEMBERS OF THE BOARD OF SUPERVISORS

FROM: Gabe Cabrera, Legislative Analyst

DATE: February 12, 2002

SUBJECT: ADDITIONAL CITY SERVICES IN THE CASTRO AREA

SUMMARY OF REQUESTED ACTION

Motion (introduced by Supervisor Leno) requesting the Office of the Legislative Analyst (OLA) to assess the cost of the following additional services for the Castro area: street sweeping; steam cleaning; graffiti removal; garbage cans; special police patrols; crisis intervention outreach workers; and lighting at Harvey Milk Plaza. In addition, the Legislative Analyst should determine whether clerical workers should perform administrative tasks now performed by sworn police personnel.

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

The boundaries for the desired additional services are: (1) Castro Street between Market and 19^th Streets; (2) 18^th Street between Hartford and Collingwood Streets; and (3) Market Street between Castro and Noe Streets. Attachment I to this report, provided by the Department of Public Works (DPW), contains a map of the subject area.

Our office estimates that in FY 2001-2002, the total cost to the City of providing the desired additional services is $504,472, including $484,765 in on-going annual costs and $19,707 in one-time only costs. This budget includes: $111,412 for two general laborers to operate a Green Machine and manually sweep the subject area; $55,706 for an additional steam operator; $55,706 for a general laborer to remove graffiti; $700 for at least one additional trash can in the subject area; $175,296 for increased private security services; $86,645 for a psychiatric social worker to respond to crisis in the subject area; and $19,007 for various lighting improvements at Harvey Milk Plaza. For further details, see the Issues Analysis section of this report. Finally, if the City chooses to hire an additional clerk typist for Mission Street Station, it should do so on a part-time basis only. The proposed clerk typist"s workload would not support a full-time position.

ISSUES ANALYSIS

Street Sweeping

DPW staff mechanically sweep streets throughout the City, including the subject area. Currently, Castro and 18^th Streets are swept 5 days per week from 6 a.m. to 8 a.m., while Market Street is swept everyday, including holidays, from 2.a.m. to 6 a.m. To clean up the subject area, DPW staff suggest hiring an additional Class 7514 FTE General Laborer to manually (not mechanically) sweep the streets and sidewalks in the area. They also suggest hiring a second general laborer to operate a Green Machine, on a part time basis, in the subject area. The annual salary of Class 7514 FTE General Laborer is $55,706, including $44,565 in salary wages and $11,141 in fringe benefits. Therefore, the total cost for two general laborers is $111,412 per year.

Steam Cleaning

There are currently 9 DPW employees, which perform steam cleaning, on an as needed basis, throughout the City. The 6 employees on the night shift (11 p.m. to 7 a.m.) dedicate most of their efforts to the Market Street area, while the other 3 employees on the day shift (7 a.m. to 4 p.m.) mainly respond to calls for service. The cost to the City of an additional Class 7514 General Laborer (like those who perform steam cleaning) is $55,706 per year.

Graffiti Removal

DPW"s Street Environmental Services removes graffiti throughout the City on an as needed basis. Of its 18 employees, 7 employees work Tuesday through Saturday from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m., another 7 employees work Thursday though Sunday from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. and the remaining 4 employees work either Tuesday through Saturday or Sunday through Thursday from 5:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. The cost of an additional Class 7514 FTE General Laborer (like those employed by Street Environmental Services) is about $55,706 per year. It is important to reiterate that graffiti removal workers are not assigned to specific areas of the City. Instead they remove graffiti throughout the City on an as needed basis.

Garbage Cans

Currently, there are a total of 31 City-owned garbage cans in the subject area. According to DPW staff, the City maintains these cans, but Sunset Scavenger, a private firm, empties them per a contractual agreement with the City. DPW staff estimate that the City"s cost per can is about $700. This is a one-time only cost.

Patrol Special Police

The Patrol Special Police is a separately chartered law enforcement group that works under the supervision of the San Francisco Police Department (SFPD).¹ Patrol Special Officers are not paid by the SFPD. Instead they are compensated by neighborhood merchants and residents who contract for their services and share associated costs.

Currently, two Patrol Special Officers patrol the Castro, including the subject area. They patrol Sunday through Wednesday from 3 p.m. to 11 p.m. and Thursday, Friday and Saturday from 6:30 p.m. to 2:30 a.m. According to Ms. Jane Warner of the San Francisco Patrol Special Police, the cost of two additional Patrol Special Officers is $175,296 per year. Attachment II to this report, provided by Ms. Warner, contains a detailed budget for these two additional officers. The subject area is also currently patrolled by two Uniformed Police Officers working 4 days per week from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. (except one day per week when their patrol schedules overlap). By way of comparison, the cost of adding two uniformed officers in the Castro is $221,537 per year, according to SFPD"s fiscal division. The Police Law Enforcement Services Unit would provide these two additional officers on an overtime basis under Section 10B.2 of the City"s Administrative Code.

Crisis Intervention Outreach Worker

The Castro/Mission Health Center located at 3850 17^th Street is one of 15 community health centers throughout the City. Notably, this center does not have a crisis intervention program. Therefore, Department of Public Health (DPH) staff advised the Legislative Analyst that the additional "crisis intervention outreach worker" would probably need to be stationed at one of the City"s mental health clinics or within DPH"s Mobile Crisis Unit. According to DPH staff, the cost of a Class 2930 FTE Psychiatric Social Worker (like those employed by the Mobil Crisis Unit) is $86,645 per year, including $69,316 in salary wages and $17,329 in fringe benefits.

Lighting at Harvey Milk Plaza

Currently, lighting at Harvey Milk Plaza located at Market and Castro Streets consists of 4 street level light poles (each with two fixtures). DPW"s Bureau of Building Repair estimates that the cost to inspect and replace any fixtures which might have failed amounts to about $3,161. To better illuminate the plaza, the Bureau recommends adding: a 15-foot light pole in the open area west of the walkway over the plaza ($7,903); three 100-watt lights over the ivy area within the plaza ($3,161); and two 100-watt lights under the plaza walkway and another two 100-watt lights on the plaza stairs ($2,121). According to DPW staff, any of these options would require extending additional electricity lines to the plaza at a cost of about $2,661. Attachment III, provided by DPW, contains further budget details. These are one-time only costs.

Civilianization

Every district police station employs at least one Class 1424 Clerk Typist to perform clerical, administrative and other non-police functions. The two police officers that patrol the Castro area advise that they spend roughly 25-30% of their time performing administrative tasks. Presumably, hiring an additional clerk typist to perform these tasks would allow officers to spend more time in the field. However, according to these officers, roughly half of their administrative duties are of a confidential nature (e.g., arrest reports) and must be completed by them. Therefore, if the City chooses to hire an additional clerk typist for Mission Street Station, it should do so on a part-time basis only. The proposed clerk typist"s workload would not support a full-time position. The cost to the City of an additional Class 1424 FTE Clerk Typist is $52,559 per year, including $42,047 in salary wages and $10,512 in fringe benefits.

CONCLUSION

The OLA concludes that the desired additional services would cost the City approximately $504,472 in FY 2001-2002, including $484,765 in on-going annual costs and $19,707 in one-time only costs. However, we cannot claim to have calculated every cost associated with these services. Instead we have provided a broad estimate of all costs. More research and analysis should be done prior to accepting these figures as precise and comprehensive.

Prepared by: Gabriel Cabrera, Legislative Analyst

Phone: (415) 554-7787

¹ San Francisco City Charter, Section 4.127.

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